That’s Not True… That’s Impossible: Battle Scars #3 Review

EDITOR’S NOTE: This final review of last week before the comic stores open contains… I’m not sure “spoilers” is the correct term… howsabout “reckless speculation?” Nah, we’ll stick with spoilers. We’re fucking OG that way.

So being an American hero runs in Battle Scars protagonist Marcus Johnson’s family, and people think his father can’t die. That conventional wisdom is that those statements mean the smart money’s on his dad being Nick Fury… but since plot credit to this book includes Matt Fraction, it really could be anyone. Because no one can die in a Marvel comic by Matt Fraction.

Battle Scars has been the most – if not the only – interesting spinoff from the Fear Itself event, the story of an Army Ranger whose mother was killed during that event, and who returns home for the funeral to find he’s extremely popular with S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America, and Taskmaster. In this third issue of the six-issue miniseries, Johnson discovers that he is also popular with everyone in the Marvel Universe with a gun and a Swiss bank account. This month, that includes Deadpool, and thank God, because he almost never appears in comic books these days.

The entire concept behind Battle Scars, and what makes it an interesting and entertaining read, is a normal guy caught up in the Marvel Universe. Well, as normal as a Ranger with weapons training and combat experience in Afghanistan can be. Which is admittedly on the “bad motherfucker” end of the “normal” spectrum. I personally fall more toward the “not the face!” side, but this isnt about me, you bastards. It’s about the general entertainment of seeing a regular (G. I.) Joe being hunted by some of the biggest hitters in the 616, and how he handles it. And in writer Chris Yost’s hands, we see him handle it as many of us would: alternately well and pant-shittingly badly. The characterization of Marcus Johnson is well rounded, and compelling enough that’s it’s gotten me to read something even tangentially connected to Fear Itself.

The other hook in the book is: who is Marcus Johnson, and why the fuck does anyone give a tin shit about him? Well, three issues in, and we finally got those hints about his family, and that someone who hates his father is bankrolling the hired hit. Now, like I said, the conventional wisdom is that dear old dad is Nick Fury, but personally? My money’s on Bucky. Because Johnson’s gotta be somewhere in his mid-20s, which means he was born in the mid, late 80s. And we can be pretty confident about Nick Fury’s and Captain America’s movements and romantic entanglements during that time; it’s almost like they published them in magazines on a monthly basis. But during that time, Bucky was running around in secret as the Winter Soldier, doing God knows what to who. Throw on top of it that that Battle Scars spins off of Fear Itself, where a couple of characters proved they were hard to kill, and you’re looking at Bucky or Thor. And frankly, if Marcus was Thor’s son, it seems to me he’d be a little more Godlike. Not to mention more prone to sunburn.

Penciler Scot Eaton’s work on this book is excellent, if a little misplaced based on what Yost has given him to work with. Eaton draws in a fine-lined style (supported by inker Andrew Hennessy) that tends toward realism, yet not hyper-realism – think less Jim Lee and more Bryan Hitch. His action is exciting, and his storytelling, well… it’s hard to say, because this book has it’s fair share of talking head sequences, so it’s hard to rate the visual storytelling of the comics equivalent of an early Kevin Smith film. That said, it’s clear and easy to follow. But where Eaton excels is at facial expressions. They’re highly detailed, and you can read them from across the room: anger, fear, and panic all clearly understood without Yost having to write a word. And yet for some reason, Yost has Eaton drawing battles with Deadpool and Taskmaster – two guys with full face masks. It’s good art, but it seems like a missed opportunity given Eaton’s ovbious strengths.

No matter who Johnson’s father is, Yost has put together a cool little mystery here that’s more interesting than the more recent Marvel mysteries, which have pretty much been limited to, “How are they killing <$Character>?”, and, “How are they bringing <$Character> back to life?” Throw in a sympathetic protagonist in a relatable situation (Well, relatable to comic geeks anyway. It’s along the lines of watching a zombie flick and wondering how you would survive it), and you’ve got a pretty entertaining book here. Pick it up if you can get the other two back issues to bring yourself up to speed, and we’ll see if my Bucky theory is right.

Then again, Johnson has blue eyes. And his father is an immortal hero in the service of America. So if I have to place a backup bet? I’m going with Cliff Clavin.